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We have a guy who keeps asking us to sell to him and we would, but here's our situation. We've been looking for a house for over 12 months. This is the first decent house we've seen since last September. It could be another 6 months, a lot longer than any buyer would be willing to wait.
So, in order to make some jerky realtor feel warm and fuzzy, I should sign a contract to sell and move out of my house in 2 to 3 months, even though I have no idea if I'm going to have another house to move to at that time? Or should my family sell our condo and move back into our parents' basement, just to make some possible future realtor feel better about presenting our offer to their clients.Or do I sign a contract to sell my home then settle for the first listed house we see b/c I don't want to go homeless?
Please keep in mind that this situation is not about the realtor, but the seller and the seller's attorney; while the market was hot and house "values" were increasing at a rapid pace, hardly anyone was concerned about selling to a buyer who was not yet in contract with their own home. In the current market, that's a big "stop" and investigate further sign, at least if it is a contingency in the contract.
Seller's attorneys would strongly object to their clients' signing a contract with such a contingency.
Based on what you have posted, it doesn't sound as though you would request this contingency but fall back on your dad as co-signer. And you're right of course, just because he's not on the deed doesn't mean he's not obligated to fulfill the contract. Maybe that wasn't explained properly on the selling side?
Re should you sell before you have found something? That's not uncommon right now, believe it or not. People end up renting or step up their search. "Double closings", where you sell your home in the morning and buy the new one in the afternoon are pretty rare in this market; it's getting tougher to coordinate those events in a timely fashion. Oh, and most transactions take about three months these days, often with the possibility of delaying the closing for another 30 days.
BTW, is your agent working for you expressly as a Buyer Agent? Did you sign a contract to that effect? And what does your Agency Disclosure Form state?
BTW, is your agent working for you expressly as a Buyer Agent? Did you sign a contract to that effect? And what does your Agency Disclosure Form state?
Not anymore. We never had a written contract with her. Frankly, I don't see any reason why I would want to have an agent. At first, she got us into a couple of houses we wanted to see, but for the most part, she was a roadblock to getting things done. We'd ask her to set up an appointment for something and she wouldn't have time to fit it into her schedule. We'd go to a lot of open houses on our own and the agents there would give us dirty looks when we said we had an agent, b/c they knew they wouldn't get their whole commission.
We used her, because my wife knew her through a previous job and she was nice enough to just get us into places when we asked without pressuring us. We are better off scheduling all of our appointments ourselves. We can go on our own schedule, not hers, and we can make an offer right away if we need to. We're perfectly capable of reading the listings and calling people. This agent thing sounds like a complete scam.
Not anymore. We never had a written contract with her. Frankly, I don't see any reason why I would want to have an agent. At first, she got us into a couple of houses we wanted to see, but for the most part, she was a roadblock to getting things done. We'd ask her to set up an appointment for something and she wouldn't have time to fit it into her schedule. We'd go to a lot of open houses on our own and the agents there would give us dirty looks when we said we had an agent, b/c they knew they wouldn't get their whole commission.
We used her, because my wife knew her through a previous job and she was nice enough to just get us into places when we asked without pressuring us. We are better off scheduling all of our appointments ourselves. We can go on our own schedule, not hers, and we can make an offer right away if we need to. We're perfectly capable of reading the listings and calling people. This agent thing sounds like a complete scam.
I'm sorry you had such bad experience. Maybe she's a part time agent? Or maybe she wasn't patient enough to "last" for 12 months+?
I know plenty of agents who put a limit on the amount of time they're willing to devote to any given buyer.
The drawback for you when dealing with the listing agent directly, is that the agent works for the seller; it is his/her job to only represent the seller and get as much as possible for the house that's for sale and the best possible terms. S/he also won't (if ethical) tell you anything that might give you an edge when negotiating, or tell you things that might adversely affect the seller's negotiations. Of course if your agent was not a Buyers Agent, she also represented the seller(s)...
And you're right of course, just because he's not on the deed doesn't mean he's not obligated to fulfill the contract. Maybe that wasn't explained properly on the selling side?
I think it was deliberately misrepresented to the seller by the listing agents. My mortgage broker explained it to them on the phone AND gave them a letter saying we were qualified. Then when we asked why we were turned down, they said it was partly because they can't "trust" a coborrower b/c a coborrower is not actually obligated to pay. I assume they passed that same wisdom to their client. That's false.
I think it was deliberately misrepresented to the seller by the listing agents. My mortgage broker explained it to them on the phone AND gave them a letter saying we were qualified. Then when we asked why we were turned down, they said it was partly because they can't "trust" a coborrower b/c a coborrower is not actually obligated to pay. I assume they passed that same wisdom to their client. That's false.
Quite possible they didn't "get it"; there is plenty of ignorance out there. And you "paid the price" by not having a real shot at getting the house you wanted
Quite possible they didn't "get it"; there is plenty of ignorance out there. And you "paid the price" by not having a real shot at getting the house you wanted
This is the first decent house we've seen since September and, because they deliberately misrepresented our financial situation to their client and refused to pass along our higher offer, we're back to square one.
Scenarios like this make me think the listing agent may have some kind of relationship with the buyer and they are protecting the buyer's deal at the expense of the seller and anyone like the OP with a better offer.
We have a guy who keeps asking us to sell to him and we would, but here's our situation. We've been looking for a house for over 12 months. This is the first decent house we've seen since last September. It could be another 6 months, a lot longer than any buyer would be willing to wait.
So, in order to make some jerky realtor feel warm and fuzzy, I should sign a contract to sell and move out of my house in 2 to 3 months, even though I have no idea if I'm going to have another house to move to at that time? Or should my family sell our condo and move back into our parents' basement, just to make some possible future realtor feel better about presenting our offer to their clients.Or do I sign a contract to sell my home then settle for the first listed house we see b/c I don't want to go homeless?
It's not about making someone feel 'warm & fuzzy'- it's about making sure a seller accepts an offer that will close in a timely manner. I'm still unclear though- did you have a mortgage contingency or not? If you did have a mortgage contingency then I can totally understand why they didn't accept your offer, but without any contingencies maybe it just wasn't explained properly to them?
12 months without finding anything is a long time- I really think you should consider renting short-term. We looked for well over 12 mos but there were many houses we would have considered acceptable but we weren't in a big hurry and selling our current house wasn't an obstacle to buying a new one. I think if you need to sell your current house in order to buy a new one AND the market doesn't have anything you find acceptable, then renting is a good option.
Also because this is the first house you liked in 12 mos, it's possible it is very under-priced and a great value so the buyer is another agent, a friend of the agent, whatever and the listing agent wants to make sure they get it.
Just curious- what is it about this house that makes it so much better than the dozens of other houses you've seen in the past year?
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